Progress Report: Going well!

Well I've been having loads of good feedback, mostly through Twitter, seems people really respond to the idea which is very encouraging!

Pass the Parcel are the first company to get involved, sponsoring a "secret" venue (details to come!) in Christchurch. Best of all, the first 10 people to check-in once venue released and retweet the check-in to @7point1squared on Twitter will get a free courier satchel post ANYWHERE in the country (up to 25 kgs!) Cheers muchly Pass the Parcel!

Powershop are very interested in getting involved in a big way, hoping to hear more about this soon.

The team at 4sqday have gotten in touch with me on Twitter and are keen to chat, as is Deon from Rebuild Christchurch (Check out the Rebuild Christchurch site, it is a fantastic resource with tons of useful earthquake related links!)

Rumpelsnorcack is the first official participating individual, having signed up on Foursquare after hearing about 7point1squared! Onya!

I've contacted lots of places and people in Christchurch, Waimak & Selwyn districts and am planning to keep on contacting them! We need lots of participating venues and users so get in touch if you are interested in finding out more!

The Back Up Plan

Or, "If Foursquare don't come to the party."

Many of you might be thinking, "This sounds all well and good but most of the idea hinges on Foursquare making this badge for you. They must get hundreds of badge suggestions daily, what if they never get round to making yours?"
And you'd be right, if I didn't already have a back up plan in mind.

If we don't get Foursquare to get on board with the idea (and believe me, I'm trying!) then I propose holding a leaderboard style race between Foursquare users to collect as many points as possible. I will tally the points (proof of check-in would be required, probably in the form of a retweet of your check-in mentioning @7point1squared) and update the leaderboard here on the blog, regularly.
On certain days or weeks I will offer bonus points (e.g. "Double points if you check into a library today!") and highlight specific participating venues (e.g. "5 bonus points for checking into Tom's Plumbing Supplies this week!")

I'm hoping to gather donated prizes to offer to the race winner and spot prizes through the time the race runs for too! I'd like to time it to co-incide with the Boxing Day Replay Sales in February (which the Christchurch City Business Association are organising) but it will depend on how quickly interest picks up in the idea! (See the Progress update post for more!)

Dear Si & Gary...

Here is the email I just sent to Simon Barnett & Gary McCormick of More FM:

Firstly thanks for taking the time to read this! I'm very nervous as I write this, putting your idea out there is scary stuff!

Anyway, I have an idea on how we Cantabrians can band together to help our local businesses who are struggling still after all these jolly quakes. 

My idea is this, we utilise the power of the social networking site Foursquare, which is a location-based site where users "check-in" to venues to meet up with friends, earn virtual badges and take advantage of deals offered by venues through the site. 

I am going to propose to the Foursquare business development team that they create a special badge for Christchurch users to earn by checking in to participating shops, restaurants, bars, etc. I'm hoping to team up with the Christchurch City Business Association to coincide with the Boxing Day sale replay they are planning for next month. (I've already contacted Paul Lonsdale at CCBA and he sounds interested, fingers crossed!)

In short, venues in Christchurch as well as the Waimak and Selwyn regions could sign up to be a participating venue simply by contacting me and getting on the list, then I request Foursquare to make the badge and all going well users can start earning it by simply "checking-in" to a certain number of the participating venues on their mobile phones or laptops while out and about enjoying our wonderful city and surrounding area! There is no cost to either the businesses or customers, which is the best part!

I'll be encouraging the businesses to offer discounts or specials to users through Foursquare which will help entice them into their venue but it won't be compulsory! (Foursquare makes it really easy to do this AND it shows up on the mobile app that there is a special nearby to help draw the punters in!)

Hopefully then I'll be able to offer prizes to users who earn the virtual badge (and I'm hoping venues will offer specials to them also such as "Free beer if you show your Foursquare badge" etc!)

So why am I telling you guys? Well, I feel that the project will have a much better chance of succeeding if I can find some well known Cantabs to add some clout to it! I know from past events and campaigns that you both follow your heart on these things and I'm really hoping one or both of you will want to get behind this initiative to help our local businesses survive in the aftermath of an event which rocked our region in more ways that one! I'm just a stay-at-home mum but I know that by clever use of social media I can make a difference if someone is willing to take a chance on my idea! I won't be getting any money out of this, I'm just putting in my spare time to hopefully get the right people together for something I feel passionate about, the city my daughters were born in, where my family are, my home; Christchurch!

If you made it all the way to the end, I thank you sincerely! There are more details on my website: http://7point1squared.blogspot.com and I can be contacted either at this email address or by phone on 021 162 0821 or on twitter, my username is @7point1squared

Warmest regards,

Rachel Dunlop